Customs Law
The Customs Act in India has strict regulations against the importation of goods that infringe upon intellectual property rights. India have a huge number of sea and inland ports, and border measures play a vital role in the policing and enforcement of intellectual property rights, especially for right owners who face counterfeiting or large-scale infringement issues in the country.
The Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules, 2007, notified by the Indian government under the Customs Act, 1962, enable right holders to take active measures to enforce their intellectual property rights at Indian borders. However, to ensure positive customs enforcement action, right holders must be vigilant in monitoring trade in counterfeit or infringing goods and actively participate in filing their IP rights, following it up with customs training, keeping customs informed on suspected shipments or importers. Being consistent with this will result in a cost-effective way of combating counterfeiting/ infringement at the boarders ensuring the impugned products are caught at the point of entry into the country.
Our experienced team of customs lawyers manage the entire lifecycle of customs actions, from the e-recordation of IP rights to the final closure of an action after a show cause hearing before customs authorities. We also handle appellate proceedings, ensuring comprehensive legal support for our clients. In addition, we conduct exclusive training sessions and workshops for customs officials for a number of clients on their specific rights and also general sessions on awareness of intellectual property rights. Our training programs are designed to sensitize and educate officials on the latest trends and techniques used by counterfeiters. This helps them to identify counterfeit products more easily, and to take appropriate action to protect businesses and consumers.
Our team represents a large number of clients in customs proceedings at major ports in India, providing effective and efficient solutions for their intellectual property protection needs and ensuring that counterfeit products are detected and confiscated before they can be sold on the open market.